94% of tenants agree with the statement that rent should always be paid. Often, they prioritize these payments over utility bills, loan installments, or telephone and internet bills – according to a study by simpl.rent and Polityka Insight “Payment Morality of Tenants in Poland”. However, 45% admit that they have failed to pay their rent on time, with 18% stating that this has happened multiple times. Loss of job and income, as well as health-related expenses for oneself or a family member, are commonly seen as justifiable reasons. One-in-four admits that it would be justified when the landlord fails to fulfill his obligations.
– “The Payment Morality of Tenants in Poland” report indicates that tenants have a high level of payment morality. Tenants prioritize rental payments over utility bills or insurance premiums– says Piotr Pajda, founder of simpl.rent, a Polish-British start-up providing tenant verification tools, to Newseria Biznes agency.
Three-quarters of the tenants surveyed for the report believe that not paying the rent on time is a bad practice and constitutes dishonesty. Almost half considered both situations negative when someone forgot to make a payment and when the delay was intentional. Moreover, over 67% agreed with the statement that those who don’t pay the rental costs on time should be pursued by law. The surveyees admitted that falling behind on rental payments would affect their well-being – 87% of them claimed that it would disturb their sense of security. A similar percentage also rejected the provocative thesis that if others don’t pay on time, they also don’t have to.
– Although they simultaneously declare that one in two have had a delay in rental payments – emphasizes Piotr Pajda. – These tenants mostly mention minor delays, up to a week. However, about 10% of tenants do not pay rent for over a month or longer, showing that even such long delays occur.
In the survey, 55% of respondents answered that they always pay on time. In the remaining group, 26.9% admitted that they had been delayed once, and nearly 18% – multiple times. Importantly, 84% of respondents believe that a one-time failure to meet the payment deadline is forgivable. However, a good justification is required.
– Tenants justify their non-payment of rent in various ways, as their motivations are as varied as the tenants themselves. The majority who do not pay rent usually attribute this to job loss or problems with a family member, which either results in a loss of income or increased expenditures. Often, an unexpected expense is the reason for not paying rent. However, it is very interesting that 1/4 of tenants do not pay rent when for some reason the landlord, i.e. the owner of the flat, fails to fulfill his obligation. So in this case, we have tit for tat– says dr hab. Adam Czerniak, professor of the Warsaw School of Economics, research director at Polityka Insight.
This applies, for example, to situations when the landlord does not adhere to agreed deadlines in terms of essential repairs in the apartment or in common areas.
– Every 10th tenant prioritizes a pet expense over rent payment– adds Piotr Pajda.
A similar percentage indicates that expenditures for upcoming holidays or family events may be more important. Meanwhile, only 7% agreed that a low standard of rental property might be a good excuse for non-payment of rent.
– Tenants have a choice of more and more rental properties, and these properties are of relatively high standard. The bigger the city, the higher the standard of these properties. Indeed, the standard somewhat affects the amount of rental fees, however there seems to be no correlation between the standard of the property, the amount of rent and whether it should be paid or not on the rental market – emphasizes Hanna Milewska-Wilk, rental market advisor at simpl.rent.
The authors of the report note that delay in paying rental fees is not a way to realize consumer whims, but rather to cope with an unexpected situation, independent of their will. Surveyees are more prone to delay payments, the more this expenditure consumes their income.
– For tenants in Poland, the amount of rent is generally problematic, but this largely results from the fact that in Poland, we generally complain about the financial accessibility of houses, both for ownership and rental. Statistics show that the amount of rent itself is not as problematic as the tenants’ declarations might suggest. Over half of the tenants pay rent amounting to up to 40% of their income, only 25%, i.e. about 1/4 of the tenants, pay rent exceeding 50% of their income, which may cause difficulties in managing the household budget – says Prof. Adam Czerniak.
Tenants emphasize that they try to inform landlords about possible payment delay. According to the authors of the report, tenants’ behaviors significantly affect the financial stability of landlords and the entire ecosystem, which may matter for the further development of rental market. A key issue here is strengthening mutual trust. The study shows that the greater the distrust of tenants towards landlords, the lower the morale. As Piotr Pajda stresses, tools such as the Tenant Certificate or rent payment insurance offered by simpl.rent are designed to enhance certainty for both parties in the market.
